Email Setup

Configure email so users get notifications about their feature requests. Keep your users engaged and informed about status changes.

Why Set Up Email

Email notifications tell users when:

Their feature status changes (Planned, In Progress, Completed)
Someone comments on their feature
Their feature reaches vote milestones
Weekly digest of popular features (optional)

Accessing Email Settings

Go to Admin > Settings
Click the Email tab

Basic Configuration

Fill in these fields:

Field	What to Enter
Mail Driver	SMTP (most common)
SMTP Host	Your email server (e.g., `smtp.gmail.com`)
SMTP Port	Usually `587` for TLS or `465` for SSL
Username	Your email address or username
Password	Your email password or app password
Encryption	TLS (recommended) or SSL
From Address	The email address notifications come from
From Name	The name shown (e.g., "Votlie Notifications")

Gmail Setup

Gmail requires an "App Password" for security.

Step 1: Enable 2-Factor Authentication

Go to your Google Account settings
Click Security
Enable 2-Step Verification

Step 2: Create App Password

Go to Google Account > Security
Find App Passwords (under 2-Step Verification)
Click Generate
Select Mail and Other
Enter a name like "Votlie"
Copy the 16-character password

Step 3: Configure in Votlie

Field	Value
SMTP Host	`smtp.gmail.com`
SMTP Port	`587`
Username	`[email protected]`
Password	The 16-character app password
Encryption	TLS
From Address	`[email protected]`

Other Providers

SendGrid

Field	Value
SMTP Host	`smtp.sendgrid.net`
SMTP Port	`587`
Username	`apikey`
Password	Your SendGrid API key
Encryption	TLS

Mailgun

Field	Value
SMTP Host	`smtp.mailgun.org`
SMTP Port	`587`
Username	Your Mailgun SMTP username
Password	Your Mailgun SMTP password
Encryption	TLS

Amazon SES

Field	Value
SMTP Host	`email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com` (your region)
SMTP Port	`587`
Username	Your SES SMTP username
Password	Your SES SMTP password
Encryption	TLS

Postmark

Field	Value
SMTP Host	`smtp.postmarkapp.com`
SMTP Port	`587`
Username	Your Postmark Server API token
Password	Your Postmark Server API token (use the same token as the password)
Encryption	TLS

Log Driver

For testing and development, you can set the Mail Driver to Log instead of SMTP.

When the Log driver is active:

Emails are not actually sent to any recipient
Instead, the full email content (headers, body, recipients) is written to storage/logs/laravel.log
This is useful for verifying that email triggers are firing correctly without needing a real mail server

How to Enable

Go to Admin > Settings > Email
Set Mail Driver to Log
Click Save

Check storage/logs/laravel.log to see the email output. Switch back to SMTP when you are ready to send real emails.

Testing

After entering your settings:

Click Save
Click Send Test Email
Enter an email address
Click Send
Check your inbox (and spam folder)

If the test email arrives, your setup is working.

Email Templates

Customize what emails look like:

Go to Admin > Settings > Email tab
Scroll to Email Templates
Click on a template to edit it

Available Templates

New Feature - Sent to admins when someone submits a feature
Status Change - Sent to users when their feature status changes
New Comment - Sent when someone comments on a followed feature

Editing a Template

Click the template
Edit the Subject line
Edit the Body content
Use merge fields like {feature_title} and {user_name}
Click Preview to see how it looks
Click Save

Merge Fields

These get replaced with real data:

Field	Shows
`{user_name}`	User's name
`{feature_title}`	Feature title
`{feature_url}`	Link to the feature
`{status}`	New status (Planned, etc.)
`{app_name}`	Your board name

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Test email not received	Check spam folder first
"Connection refused"	Wrong SMTP host or port
"Authentication failed"	Wrong username or password
"Connection timed out"	Port may be blocked by hosting
Gmail "Less secure app" error	Use App Password instead
Emails going to spam	Set up SPF/DKIM records for your domain

Check Your Settings

Port 587 usually needs TLS encryption
Port 465 usually needs SSL encryption
Don't mix them up

Still Not Working?

Try the "log" driver to test if the app is trying to send
Check storage/logs/laravel.log for error messages
Ask your hosting provider if SMTP ports are open

Notification Settings

Control which notifications are enabled:

Go to Admin > Settings > General
Find the notification toggles:
- New submission alerts (to admins)
- Status change notifications
- Comment notifications
- Weekly digest
Turn on/off as needed
Click Save